Ken Frankel talks about meeting and making music with Jerry Garcia in the early ’60s. Wonderful stories!

Ken has been a professional musician for 60 years, playing lead electric guitar in rock and country bands since high school, including the famous 1960’s Boston psychedelic band Ill Wind. He has played banjo, guitar, mandolin, and fiddle in various acoustic bands, including performing bluegrass and old-time music with Jerry Garcia, David Nelson, Robert Hunter, Richard Greene, Rick Shubb, and Sandy Rothman. Frankel played classical mandolin, mandola, and mandocello with The Berkeley Mandolin Ensemble and other groups. He formed The Electric Guitar Quartet, which performed classical music on specially designed electric guitars. He also owned and ran the well-loved club The Cotati Cabaret in the 1980’s, the music venue Studio 55 Marin until last year, and curated a music series at Freight & Salvage called Dr. K’s Homegrown Roots Review. Ken continues to perform, and learn to play new instruments.

Support for the Grateful Dead Hour comes this week from:

The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York. Drummer Joe Russo of Furthur and Joe Russo’s Almost Dead pays tribute to Jerry Garcia and Howard Wales’ cult classic album Hooteroll?, on Friday, April 7, celebrating Jerry’s music at one of his favorite venues. Events, information, and ticketing at thecapitoltheatre.com.

The Jerry Garcia Family and Round Records, announcing GarciaLive volume 8, celebrating the Jerry Garcia Band’s 11/23/91 performance in Milwaukee. The 2-CD set is available now at jerrygarcia.com or your favorite local record store, and also streaming at Spotify, Apple Music, and Google Play. That’s GarciaLive volume 8, from jerrygarcia.com